It’s a long way to the top.

 Acting in L.A.?: On Thursday night, DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings ripped Blake Griffin for his “acting” during their matchup that the Clippers ultimately won.  After taking some hits, Cousins accused Griffin of flopping too much and said it is part of the culture in L.A. because of Hollywood.  Hey Cousins, I know you are a rookie in the NBA, but unfortunately, flopping happens.  Remember the Eastern Conference Finals last season when LeBron James and Chris Bosh appeared hurt, only to have replays later show it was an act?  Just play through it and concentrate on what your team needs to do to win.  Interestingly, Cousins’ impact on the game was minimal and the team actually fought back from many field goals down when he left the game due to foul trouble before eventually falling 93-85.  Sacramento has proven to function better without Cousins, so he should try to keep his mouth shut like NBA rookies often do and learn a thing or two about the sport’s soft spots before trash talking other players’ Oscar-worthy performances.

Performing Magic: Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is once again trying to make life hard for his team and fans with his latest comments.  He has openly professed to want his coach Stan Van Gundy fired.  Howard has not gotten on my Bottom 5 up to this point, which is surprising considering his constant drama prior to the trade deadline, but he finally gets here this week.  Why do you want your head coach fired?  If you wanted a change of scenery, why did you sign a waiver explicitly stating that you would sign with the Magic for next season?  Howard continues to act out, which is absurd given his enormous talent.  He is by far the best center in the league because no one has a bigger post presence than D12.

I think Otis Smith, the Magic’s general manager, wishes he had made Howard disappear when he had the chance, because Orlando is just looking to get beaten up in the playoffs by Indiana if the season ended today.  No one should expect the Magic to do anything this postseason with the in-house struggles that exist for this franchise.

Guillen Never Shuts Up: Miami Marlins skipper Ozzie Guillen just cannot man up and let bygones be bygones.  He continues to take shots at White Sox GM Kenny Williams about their incompatibility the last couple of years and recently said that Williams was not being a man in the ongoing confrontation.  That seems hard to believe, as Williams is proving to be the bigger man while moving on with his life and focusing on the upcoming 2012 campaign.  Note to Ozzie: the Marlins lost their opening game at home to Kyle Lohse, who threw a no-hitter until the 7^th inning.  The Marlins have some pressure to win games this year with all of their free-agent acquisitions, so Guillen should focus more on winning than blasting his former boss.  The White Sox may not have a good season (I’ll shed a single tear for that), but they at least have some class by leaving Guillen alone.

Trouble in Texas: Three more TCU football players have been charged with delivering marijuana.  This is terrible because university and NCAA officials try so hard to prevent student-athletes from being involved with drugs in any way, but some players simply ignore their coach’s conditioning and persist with an air of arrogant invincibility.  They get free rides to college because of their athletic ability, and in cases like the TCU arrests, their educational opportunities are wasted.  Two f the players charged could face up to 2 years in jail while a third may be facing 10 years if he is convicted for delivering in a drug-free zone.  By the way, the drug-free zone he entered with his products was the field the TCU team practices on!  Talk about thinking you’re too good to get caught.  To make matters worse for these players, they delivered the marijuana to undercover cops, so it’s unlikely they will get off with a slap on the wrist.  TCU has up to 23 players currently under investigation for dealing marijuana and 14 face serious charges.  The team is moving out of the Mountain West Conference and into the Big 12 for next season and will certainly face stiffer competition.  They cannot afford many distractions if they want to have a good season.  But what if head coach Gary Patterson has to boot most of these guys?  They’ll be depleted.  Perhaps he should reassess his recruiting practices and what kinds personalities he seeks in a recruit.

A Simpson Goes to Jail: This is not a reference to current man of incarceration O.J. or to The Simpsons cartoon show (although Homer has been to jail a number of times), but to former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Jerome Simpson, who makes my Bottom 5 after being sentenced to 15 days in jail and three years of probation for marijuana trafficking.  This should be nothing surprising to the Bengals’ upper management, since they often seem to have numerous players with criminal backgrounds while habitually signing, drafting, and trading for players who have shady histories (Cedric Benson and Rey Maualuga, for example).  The recent sentencing has forced the team to release the troubled wide receiver and move forward with younger players at the position.  After everything Simpson has been through (quite frankly, he’s lucky to get such a light sentencing), you would think he would get his life in order.  I doubt his family or other NFL suitors approve of his actions, and wide receivers are definitely needed in the league since so many go through multiple injuries over the course of the year.

The post Bottom 5: Bad Things Happen to Troubled People appeared first on KRUI Radio.

It’s a long way to the top.

Don’t Lose Your Mind: On Thursday, former Maryland men’s basketball coach Gary Williams told a Washington radio station that the Kentucky Wildcats could defeat the Washington Wizards in an exhibition game.  Mr. Williams has just earned a spot on this week’s starting Bottom 5 team for that ludicrous comment.  Yes, the Wizards are horrible this year, as their record currently stands at 11-38, and they’re the second worst team in the NBA right now.  I also believe that Kentucky will be national champions on Monday, with four of their players likely high-round draft picks in June.  I am not taking anything away from Kentucky.  They are outstanding as a college team.  Orlando head coach Stan Van Gundy put it best by saying, “Kentucky may have four NBA players on their team, but Washington has thirteen and besides, when was the last time a team won using just rookies?”  Thank you Mr. Van Gundy for pointing out Gary Williams’ stupidity.  No matter how good a college basketball team is, it can never beat an NBA team.

No Fish in this Lake: Derek Fisher made his triumphant return to the Staples Center on Thursday night as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder.  I have previously nominated the Lakers’ front office in an earlier edition of my Bottom 5, but the nomination this week goes to the entire Laker roster and the coaching staff.  They get the nod here because they suggested to the Lakers front office that they can win a championship without Fisher.  They initially dealt him to Cleveland, a team well out of the playoff race, but he ended up clearing waivers and signing with the Thunder—the number one seed in the Western Conference.  Fisher may have the last laugh—as he defeated his former team on its home floor—and the Thunder are my favorite to win the Western Conference and advance to the NBA Finals.  What I do not understand is why the Lakers would want to dump Fisher anyway, because of his veteran presence in the locker room?  He has been on the team as long as Kobe Bryant, and the only member of the team that previously could have told Bryant what to and what not to do.

Bitter Departure: The reason I came up with the title for this week’s edition is because of Donovan McNabb, the third lucky recipient of my Bottom 5 distinction.  Recently, he insulted his former coach Mike Shanahan by saying [Shanahan’s] system would waste Robert Griffin III’s talents.  RG3 is projected to be the 2^nd overall pick in the draft, and the Redskins are extremely close to reaching a deal with him before they select him officially on draft day.  However, McNabb, who is most likely feeling the bitterness of being let go by the Redskins, took cheap shots at his former team’s offensive game-plan, saying they would not play to RG3’s strengths and that the team would have him run plays that would not benefit him.  Maybe McNabb is just jealous that the team found a suitable replacement for the bumbling QB, or maybe Momma McNabb just won’t cook her son Campbell’s Chunky soup anymore due to his homeless-man beard.  Either way, McNabb should have some class and move on.  I hear the Arizona Cardinals need some QB help, so try there or head down to the unemployment office.

 No Love Lost in Montreal: Thursday morning, the Montreal Canadiens fired their General Manager  Pierre Gauthier after the team compiled an abysmal 29-24-14 record, second-worst in the NHL.  While the team is scrambling to find their next GM, rumors have begun swirling about relocation.  Quebec City, the province’s capital, wants the NHL to return, so the Canadiens may be on the move.  While the Phoenix Coyotes are the likely favorites for relocation, Gary Bettman, the NHL’s commissioner, may not want to move the an NHL franchise out of Phoenix after such a hard and grueling process to get a team there in the first place.  However, growing unrest about the failure to get the Habs to the Stanley Cup Finals has been dreadful to watch.  Pressure continues to grow because of Canada’s immense pride in hockey.  They did get close two years ago, coming off a major upset over the number one seed Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, but they have not reached the Stanley Cup Finals in a long time.

 U.S. Declining in Men’s Tennis: Tennis is not a sport I follow very closely, but I have noticed a serious drop in the number of great American male tennis players.  How many people can name an elite, current U.S. men’s player?  I can’t, and the only one who come to mind are the long-retired Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.  Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer garner almost all of the attention in men’s tennis, while Andy Roddick pops up here and there as the U.S. number three behind Mardy Fish and John Isner.  While Fish is number one in the U.S., he is more off the radar than Roddick, perhaps due to Roddick’s apparent celebrity.  So, where are the U.S. players on the international level?  If the U.S. could generate some international stars, we could get on the map and spark more interest in the sport.  As it stands, men’s tennis will continue to devour the back pages of print and side links of sports websites unless a Federer vs. Nadal matchup occurs.

The post Bottom 5: Bitter Losses appeared first on KRUI Radio.